Improving Medication Safety In Seniors: A Cross-Jurisdictional Linkage Project
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$636,717.00
Summary
The project will identify priorities for tackling the current epidemic of hospitalisation of Australians aged 65+ years due to side effects of their medications. Two different groups of medications will be investigated. The first will be the prescribed drugs most often recorded as causes of hospital stay, including those taken to stop blood clotting, for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, for rheumatism or strong pain relief, anti-cancer drugs and steroids. The study will exa ....The project will identify priorities for tackling the current epidemic of hospitalisation of Australians aged 65+ years due to side effects of their medications. Two different groups of medications will be investigated. The first will be the prescribed drugs most often recorded as causes of hospital stay, including those taken to stop blood clotting, for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, for rheumatism or strong pain relief, anti-cancer drugs and steroids. The study will examine which of these drugs taken under what circumstances has the highest risk, so prevention can be better targeted. The study will investigate if adequate laboratory monitoring of the anti- clotting drugs is taking place and whether the guidelines should be updated. The second group will be 68 medications that should be avoided in seniors according to an international expert panel. The research will see how often these 'inappropriate medications' are still prescribed in the Australian setting, and the size of their contributions to unplanned hospital stays. The researchers suspect that this problem is much larger than immediately apparent from routine statistics, because many of the side effects of inappropriate medications are non-specific, such as confusion, drowsiness or difficulty standing up, thus putting seniors at risk of falls and neglect of other aspects of their health. The study will use a unique and new Australian research facility, which has brought together health data on the entire population of WA from both the State and Commonwealth levels, including information on pharmaceuticals, Medicare use, hospital stays and deaths. The facility works in such a way as to preserve patient and GP privacy. A strong feature of this research will be the degree of involvement of a representative and voluntary group of older Australian patients who attend GP clinics, and the GPs themselves, in advising the researchers on what's important to consumers and GPs.Read moreRead less
Patient and nurse outcomes and the cost of nurses' turnover in Australian hospitals. An adequate supply of nurses is fundamental to all of the National Health Priority disease areas where quality care cannot be delivered without an adequate number of motivated nurses. Designing cost-effective methods of retaining nurses requires understanding reasons why they leave the workforce and the impact this has on patient care and system costs. The findings will assist policy makers and workforce planner ....Patient and nurse outcomes and the cost of nurses' turnover in Australian hospitals. An adequate supply of nurses is fundamental to all of the National Health Priority disease areas where quality care cannot be delivered without an adequate number of motivated nurses. Designing cost-effective methods of retaining nurses requires understanding reasons why they leave the workforce and the impact this has on patient care and system costs. The findings will assist policy makers and workforce planners at both local and national levels, to design strategies to effectively recruit and retain nurses as demands for health care and market competition for staff both increase.Read moreRead less
The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the co ....The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the country. The project aims to inform consumers, health practitioners, health service planners and policy-makers about the impact of FIFO, as well as to contribute to the development of strategies designed to stabilise the remote health workforce.Read moreRead less
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Multi-level analysis of human resource management systems on hospital outcomes. This project explores the relationships among human resource management systems, perceived organisational support, trust-in-management and commitment of healthcare workers. The fundamental aim is to assist hospital managers to determine where to direct their efforts to have maximum impact upon staff and hospital performance.
The transition from secondary school to adulthood: Experiences and life outcomes for youth with an intellectual disability and their families. This project seeks to explore the challenges faced and outcomes achieved by students with an intellectual disability as they move from secondary school into adult life. The study will investigate the factors at an individual, educational, family, and societal level which positively and adversely affect outcomes for young people with an intellectual disab ....The transition from secondary school to adulthood: Experiences and life outcomes for youth with an intellectual disability and their families. This project seeks to explore the challenges faced and outcomes achieved by students with an intellectual disability as they move from secondary school into adult life. The study will investigate the factors at an individual, educational, family, and societal level which positively and adversely affect outcomes for young people with an intellectual disability and their families. Family impacts can include significant loss of income as parents may have to cease employment to care for their young adult who has limited employment or day placement options. Gaining the knowledge to minimise the disruption to family life, which often occurs at this time of transition, will lead to strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
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Understanding communication about advance care planning across the lifespan. This project aims to understand how people communicate about advance care planning for children, adolescents, and adults. This project expects to generate new knowledge by using leading social scientific and linguistic methods to analyse real-world advance care planning conversations and documents. Expected outcomes include detailed knowledge about challenges people encounter in these conversations and how to manage the ....Understanding communication about advance care planning across the lifespan. This project aims to understand how people communicate about advance care planning for children, adolescents, and adults. This project expects to generate new knowledge by using leading social scientific and linguistic methods to analyse real-world advance care planning conversations and documents. Expected outcomes include detailed knowledge about challenges people encounter in these conversations and how to manage these challenges. Over 170,000 Australians die each year, most from serious illness. This project should provide significant benefits to future initiatives for enhancing communication about advance care planning, especially in relation to young Australians, older Australians, and Australians with disabilities.Read moreRead less